Arrival of a French Frigate.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 234, 24 December 1887, Page 3

Arrival of a French Frigate.

The Fabevt, a French frigate attached to the South Pacific station, has arrived afc Sydney. Trie Faborb is from Tahiti via Noumea, and comes for an overhaul rendered necessary after several years 1 active service in the South Pacific. Her headquarters are Tahiti, and as soon as the repairs, &c, have been completed, probably in a month hence, she will return thither to join the ileet cruising in the Pacific. The Faberb rates as a second - class frigate. She is a wooden vessel, is barque-rigged, and has a projecting ram entrance. The Fabevt was built at Rochefort in 1874, and has since done good service. She has been three years away from France on the prosent commission, and before joining the Pacific squadron was cruising in China water?. The Faberb is 204 feet long and her beam is 33 feet, giving a displacement of 2,400 tons. That the Fabert is a formidable cruiser may be inferred from her armament. Her guns, eight in all, are on deck. They had ranged three on each side, and there is a bow-chaser and a stern-chaser. Their calibre is 14 centimetres, bub the term 62pounders will better convey an idea as to their size. The guns are all breech -loading, and are very destructive weapons, even at a distance of 6 miles. In addition to the heavy artillery, the Fabert carries five machine guns — four revolving and one fieldpiece. In the matter of small arms the vessel is fully equipped. There are 88 rifles and 40 revolvers, besides carbines, cutlasses. &c. The Faberb is also supplied with torpedoes, and she carries a launch expressly for them.